NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index Says a Lot About Our Hot Market

Each month the National Association of Realtors (NAR) releases its “Pending Home Sales Index,’ and the index for February contained an important notation — that the number of homes under contract nationally was the highest it had been since last April — and the second highest since 2001.

This fact tells us two things. First, it tells us that homes were selling better this winter than they were last summer, despite the usual reduction in listings.  As I have written numerous times, winter is absolutely the best time (in the current seller’s market) to put your home on the MLS, because all those disappointed buyers from last summer’s bidding wars are still looking, but there’s less to look at. The result is quicker sales (unless you overprice your home) and more bidding wars on the available homes. Beat the rush of new listings — put your home on the market NOW!

 

Second, it tells us that the low inventory of active listings is made worse by how quickly new listings go under contract, and not so much because fewer people are putting their homes on the market.

 

This is demonstrated clearly by metro area stats from REcolorado (Denver’s MLS) showing how median days on market has plunged over the last 6 years: 

Published April 13, 2017, in the Denver Post's YourHub section and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.